Come on this is all far too reasonable now. Mumsnetters would be laughing at us for giving in so easily 🙂

I had reins when I was a toddler – never did me any harm.

Still ran off so I also had bells on my shoes!

Er, perhaps its better not to take very young kids where the risks of getting it wrong are too high.

No toddlers on the busy streets of Paris then. Without reins = can be risky, with reins = much less so.

Shall we do the whole small…. far away… thing for you Geoff

the times I have seen people running with small children on their shoulders makes me shudder.

This is a troll surely?

No. why?

I weave drunkenly around with Lil Grips on my shoulders, to entertain her. She loves it.

I take care not to fall over 🙂

Er, perhaps its better not to take very young kids where the risks of getting it wrong are too high.
No toddlers on the busy streets of Paris then. Without reins = can be risky, with reins = much less so.

Shall we do the whole small…. far away… thing for you Geoff

How did we ever manage? The world is such a scary place. How many Parisians with kids on leads? That’s right, you guessed it!

As I said in my original response ymmv and later on, it would be a dull place if we all agreed, but don’t let that stop you.

How many Parisians with kids on leads? That’s right, you guessed it!

I didnt actually. Being a bit of an empiricist however we did spot a few. You may be right though they may not have been natives.
The good news is we all got out alive.

How did we ever manage?

Some of us didn’t. Some got run over by cars as little kids.

The good news is we all got out alive.

Thank goodness for that! 😉

Some of us didn’t. Some got run over by cars as little kids.

Yeah and some of us had lots of other accidents involving trips to a&e, with or without leads.

The issue appears to be one of convenience for the parents. There are alternatives like holding their hands firmly and concentrating on what you and they are doing. – or maybe I just have angelic kids and nieces? Bring your kids up the way you see fit and dont worry what other people think.

There is no need for the snide comments though Surfer.

There are alternatives like holding their hands firmly and concentrating on what you and they are doing

Lol. Right.

If it were always possible, then we wouldn’t be thinking of reins would we?

– or maybe I just have angelic kids and nieces?

Maybe.

Out of interest, all you rein-haterz, at what age did your kids do without pushchairs?

Just another post to register a lazy parent/reins user!

Little Peyote (LP) is learning to walk to heel, so a lot of the time they are just stuffed into the hood of his jacket, but as a failsafe I find them very handy. The Missus has a dodgy back, so while LP does hold hands, it does mean stooping which isn’t good for back ache. Although I suppose these could just be excuses for us being lazy. 😉

molgrips – Member

Out of interest, all you rein-haterz, at what age did your kids do without pushchairs?

Not a rein-hater, but my son gladly stayed in his stroller until he was 4 and if offered now at the age of 7 he would probably take it up again!

My two daughters were the opposite and hated being in strollers.

All three have never had reins, but there have been a few times when they would have come in handy.

I can understand why they would come in handy with a certain type of child, but in most cases the children I see in reins (and I must admit I don’t see that many) look well subdued and certainly not interested in running away anywhere.

There is no need for the snide comments though Surfer.

Your right Geoff. Its inappropriate to champion individual choice then call those who exercise it as “lazy” when you know nothing of individual circumstances, so yes keep the snide comments to yourself.

Surfer, RR asked for opinions. I gave him mine. I’m sorry it’s not one you agree with, and you feel aggrieved by association, but I never intended to offend anyone.

look well subdued and certainly not interested in running away anywhere

They do, until they suddenly decide to do a runner!

We walked as far as we could with Meg from 9 months onwards stooping to hold her hand, then from 12 mo onwards she walked on her own which includes lengthy stops for her to pick up stones and leaves and examine them. Now at 24mo she rarely goes in the pushchair at all, we leave it behind on shopping trips and the like unless we’re hitting the big busy city. It takes quite a bit of effort to manage her like this so I don’t feel we’re being lazy. Like I say we don’t use reins but I would if she showed more of a tendency to bolt.

There was a similar thread on mumsnet a few weeks ago, it was about as divided – I think Joemarshall speaks the truth.